Help with a 4v Cleveland build..please

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cazsper

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
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Location
Sunnyvale, CA
My Car
1968 Coupe: 393w, TKO-600, Maier Racing springs, Global West suspension, Currie 9in with forged axles, 3.50 gears, Trutrac, Baer brakes front/rear
1973 Mach-1: 351c 4V, C-6, 3.73:1 gears and a long "To Do" list..
My '73 Mach-1 has a 4v Cleveland. Other than the Edelbrock Victor intake and Holley carb, it is stock. I would like to have it rebuilt but don't really know what to do.

I will have a TKO-500 (or 600), 9inch rear with 3.50:1 gears and 275/40-17 rear tires. As for the motor, I was thinking of the Edelbrock Air Gap intake, but as far as the rest, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not opposed to a stroker motor, but I would really appreciate some ideas.

The only criteria is that this will be a daily driver, redline at around 6000RPM, and living in California, I am confined to 91 octane. Any help would be appreciated.

 
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Keep the compression under 9.5:1

don't go too wild on the cam something with .500"ish lift and 230 to 240 duration @ .050 on a 112 - 114 centerline will allow it to breathe and still have some low end power (running a manual trans is more forgiving)

a good valve job on the 4v heads with new valves and single groove keepers with springs that match the cam will do for the heads

The airgap is too tall for ram air but if that's not an issue it would be a good choice

a Holley 670 street avenger carb will work fine for any but a fairly radical build

 
I'm no expert on the Clevelands but if you need to run on that lousy 91 you could stroke to get more power while keeping the compression down. However that would be a costly option.

 
I would think 10:1 would run on 91 no? I use 93 and i have 10.5:1....i believe the Blue Thunder intake for the 4v is a good reproduction of the Shelby alum intake and i have heard good things. Btw, the factory cast iron crank is a great crank for your engine. I read that ford used he smaller bearings because it generated less heat at higher rpm than the larger bearing GM cranks. And Ford did metalurigical testing of cast vs forged and found that the cast iron cranks held oil on he bearing facing surfaces better than forged. I believe Rousch did a good amount of testing on cranks and chose to race with the factory nodular iron cranks. I posted additional info here recently on the factory racing parts for the 4v's. use a cleveland builder.

 
As far as compression, I have 10:1 on my 393w but I also have aluminum heads.

 
I see the cam 232/240 @ .050 is popular with the Windsors. Is this what I should be looking at or something different? Single or dual pattern?

 
My '73 Mach-1 has a 4v Cleveland. Other than the Edelbrock Victor intake and Holley carb, it is stock. I would like to have it rebuilt but don't really know what to do.

I will have a TKO-500 (or 600), 9inch rear with 3.50:1 gears and 275/40-17 rear tires. As for the motor, I was thinking of the Edelbrock Air Gap intake, but as far as the rest, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not opposed to a stroker motor, but I would really appreciate some ideas.

The only criteria is that this will be a daily driver, redline at around 6000RPM, and living in California, I am confined to 91 octane. Any help would be appreciated.
I believe all tires all around for mach one is 15x225x60x7" as well 8.6:1 compression ratio for 72-71 mach ones, as well, if stock, should be with hydraulic lifters. Even w/650 cfm carb w/stock Hurst 4 on floor into original Ford toploader transmission w/wide ratio does 2700 rpm's in 4th gear, a 1:1 ratio @ 65mph. If you can not get around the outrageous rpm's, maybe the over sized rear tires are not worth the hassle.



My '73 Mach-1 has a 4v Cleveland. Other than the Edelbrock Victor intake and Holley carb, it is stock. I would like to have it rebuilt but don't really know what to do.

I will have a TKO-500 (or 600), 9inch rear with 3.50:1 gears and 275/40-17 rear tires. As for the motor, I was thinking of the Edelbrock Air Gap intake, but as far as the rest, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not opposed to a stroker motor, but I would really appreciate some ideas.

The only criteria is that this will be a daily driver, redline at around 6000RPM, and living in California, I am confined to 91 octane. Any help would be appreciated.
I believe all tires all around for mach one is 15x225x60x7" as well 8.6:1 compression ratio for 72-71 mach ones, as well, if stock, should be with hydraulic lifters. Even w/650 cfm carb w/stock Hurst 4 on floor into original Ford toploader transmission w/wide ratio does 2700 rpm's in 4th gear, a 1:1 ratio @ 65mph. If you can not get around the outrageous rpm's, maybe the over sized rear tires are not worth the hassle.
ps, see my profile w/edelbrock 2 barrel intake manifold and 700 cfm rolling on 245x60x15x8" of which 8" magnum 500 wheel from year one pulls my 72 mustang w/9.5:1 compression on solid lifters/cams, because of heavy vibrations on Cleveland with 2 main bolts as opposed to 4 mains on engine on a convertible w/beefed up suspension bringing overall weight to 3,800 lbs still gets to 60 in 6 seconds, higher torque at lower mph @ 289 ft/lbs, rear wheel hp of 30 horses less. Temporarily w/efi do not know how economy stands but clevelands have always been bad for 351, just about same performance as 429cj. things to consider to keep 4 speed, if that is what is in there and about same cost if you see gearvendors.com about adding an 8speed over drive. project I'm researching right now. A lot car show mustangs w/larger engines install this to reduce rpm's thus more fuel economy when driving longer distances to car shows, (in between still keeping high performance when you just want to bomb around locally)

irwin100-lupc 728.JPG

 
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Besides the intake, the motor is stock as far as I know. It also has a C-6 with 3.73 gears. But I like the 3.50 gears I put in my '68 since I do a fair amount of freeway driving. As easy as it was to convert my '68 from an automatic to a TKO-600, I think I'll do that with my '73. I was just looking for some ideas for my new motor.

I'm certainly not a purist, so I'm fine with aluminum heads or whatever. A fuel injected 393w with a Paxton supercharger woukd be sweet, but I already have the Cleveland. And everyone talks the Cleveland up vs the Windsor, so I'm just trying to get ideas..

 
Follow the link I posted. Very smart Cleveland guys there. Don't build a Cleveland based on Windsor info or old magazines. Your Cleveland properly tuned and healthy will outperform many built up W based motors. The best Cleveland heads a few years ago were CHI's and AFD's. I believe TFS and Kasse are also producing them. The Edelbrocks are nice for a basic stock engine - more or less 2v heads in Aluminum with a modern chamber. Clevelands are more fussy when it comes to the combo you cook up, cam, intake, ignition all need to be well matched to the rest of the motor. There is nothing wrong with 4V heads either. Do replace the valves regardless what you do if they are the stock Ford valves. My Cleveland almost never gets run without at least 1 trip to 6000 rpm during the outing. They are fun, they have their own sound and are a good engine when put together right.


 
My '73 Mach-1 has a 4v Cleveland. Other than the Edelbrock Victor intake and Holley carb, it is stock. I would like to have it rebuilt but don't really know what to do.

I will have a TKO-500 (or 600), 9inch rear with 3.50:1 gears and 275/40-17 rear tires. As for the motor, I was thinking of the Edelbrock Air Gap intake, but as far as the rest, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not opposed to a stroker motor, but I would really appreciate some ideas.

The only criteria is that this will be a daily driver, redline at around 6000RPM, and living in California, I am confined to 91 octane. Any help would be appreciated.
I believe all tires all around for mach one is 15x225x60x7" as well 8.6:1 compression ratio for 72-71 mach ones, as well, if stock, should be with hydraulic lifters. Even w/650 cfm carb w/stock Hurst 4 on floor into original Ford toploader transmission w/wide ratio does 2700 rpm's in 4th gear, a 1:1 ratio @ 65mph. If you can not get around the outrageous rpm's, maybe the over sized rear tires are not worth the hassle.



My '73 Mach-1 has a 4v Cleveland. Other than the Edelbrock Victor intake and Holley carb, it is stock. I would like to have it rebuilt but don't really know what to do.

I will have a TKO-500 (or 600), 9inch rear with 3.50:1 gears and 275/40-17 rear tires. As for the motor, I was thinking of the Edelbrock Air Gap intake, but as far as the rest, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not opposed to a stroker motor, but I would really appreciate some ideas.

The only criteria is that this will be a daily driver, redline at around 6000RPM, and living in California, I am confined to 91 octane. Any help would be appreciated.
I believe all tires all around for mach one is 15x225x60x7" as well 8.6:1 compression ratio for 72-71 mach ones, as well, if stock, should be with hydraulic lifters. Even w/650 cfm carb w/stock Hurst 4 on floor into original Ford toploader transmission w/wide ratio does 2700 rpm's in 4th gear, a 1:1 ratio @ 65mph. If you can not get around the outrageous rpm's, maybe the over sized rear tires are not worth the hassle.
ps, see my profile w/edelbrock 2 barrel intake manifold and 700 cfm rolling on 245x60x15x8" of which 8" magnum 500 wheel from year one pulls my 72 mustang w/9.5:1 compression on solid lifters/cams, because of heavy vibrations on Cleveland with 2 main bolts as opposed to 4 mains on engine on a convertible w/beefed up suspension bringing overall weight to 3,800 lbs still gets to 60 in 6 seconds, higher torque at lower mph @ 289 ft/lbs, rear wheel hp of 30 horses less. Temporarily w/efi do not know how economy stands but clevelands have always been bad for 351, just about same performance as 429cj. things to consider to keep 4 speed, if that is what is in there and about same cost if you see gearvendors.com about adding an 8speed over drive. project I'm researching right now. A lot car show mustangs w/larger engines install this to reduce rpm's thus more fuel economy when driving longer distances to car shows, (in between still keeping high performance when you just want to bomb around locally)
my car looks exactly like yours except for the hood. i want to keep my original hood but it looks so damned good with the intakes. did your car come with the nasa style? if not did you find a Ford hood or aftermarket? and i have been told more than once that the hood locks are a VERY good idea.

 
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